News 2018

THE site of the new nuclear power station at Bradwell is staggering in size. Measuring the length of six football pitches, it sits on land near to the existing station, now being decommissioned. The Standard was given exclusive access to see how work was progressing at Bradwell B. EDF Energy and the China General Nuclear Power Group have been carrying out early site investigations into the site since December. Since then, the company has been drilling and digging sampling holes and testing the soil. While work is underway, the project is still very much in the beginning stage. Once all groundwork is complete proposals for what the new power station could look like will be drawn up. Then, a huge public consultation will be held, alongside a generic design assessment, environmental assessment, and nuclear site licence being sought. In short, we are many years away from any station being built.

Bradwell B model nuclear power plant passes major milestone in China. A nuclear plant which is acting as the forerunner to Bradwell B in Essex has passed a major milestone. The China General Nuclear (CGN) Power Group said it has completed the dome-lift at the Fangchenggang nuclear power station in Guangxi Province, China. Dome lifting is a significant point in construction as it is a vital part of ensuring the integrity and sealing of the reactor building. Equipment installation can now start. The station is being used as the reference plant for the HPR1000 which CGN and EDF plan to build at Bradwell B, subject to regulatory approval, and will inform the UK version. Zheng Dongshan, chief executive of CGN UK, said: “This milestone for the HPR1000 technology is great news for the Bradwell B project, showing CGN will have a track record in safely and efficiently building and operating this type of reactor well before the project becomes operational in the UK.”

The HPR1000 has also been proposed for construction at Bradwell in the UK, where it is undergoing Generic Design Assessment. The Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency announced in November last year the start of the second, technical, phase of the assessment programme for the UK HPR1000. CGN UK CEO Dongshan Zheng said, “The announcement today shows the very positive progress being made at Fangchenggang unit 3, and illustrates once again our expertise, as the world’s leading builder of nuclear power stations, in project management, engineering and construction of new reactors.” He added, “This milestone for the HPR1000 technology is also great news for the Bradwell B project, showing that CGN will have a track record in safely and efficiently building and operating this type of reactor well before the project becomes operational in the UK.”

Assembly to debate ‘nuclear mud’ petition as campaigners call for more testing. Anti-nuclear campaigners have raised new questions about what they fear is ‘radioactive mud’ to be dumped near Cardiff Bay, as the Assembly prepares to debate a petition against the plans. Over 7,000 signed a petition calling for a suspension of a license to dump the mud so that a full Environmental Impact Assessment can be carried out under the auspices of Natural Resources Wales. 109,000 also signed a Greenpeace petition expressing concerns that the mud could be toxic and requesting that EDF respond. Campaigners are calling on Lesley Griffiths, the Environment Minister responsible for Energy and Planning, to call in the application to dump the mud. They claim that the Welsh Government had had already decided to agree to the request by EDF Energy, the company building a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, to dump 30,000 tonnes mud before it was properly tested.

Since November 2017 the Petitions Committee has given detailed consideration to a petition concerning a marine licence for the disposal of material dredged from the seabed in the Severn Estuary, as part of the construction of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. This report contains an overview of the Committee’s consideration of the petition and a summary of the evidence the Committee has received.

The Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations require all civil nuclear reactor dismantling and decommissioning projects to obtain consent before being allowed to commence. This ensures that projects likely to have significant effect on the environment take due measures to protect and reduce their environmental impact. This consultation invites comments on proposals for implementing amendments of the European Union Directive on environmental impact assessments in so far as the Directive applies to consent for nuclear reactor decommissioning projects in the UK under the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations.

Sustainability First have produced an interesting discussion paper proposing a low carbon incentive for inclusion in the next round of regulation for networks (RIIO2). The paper, written by regulatory experts Maxine Frerk (ex-Ofgem), Judith Ward (who is – full disclosure – on the advisory group of IGov2) and Sharon Darcy, argues for the introduction of a specific low carbon incentive that would work in three areas: Low carbon energy sources: incentivising network companies to facilitate the connection of low carbon energy sources (for example distributed renewable generation in electricity, or biogas in the gas network) and increasing the level of output from those sources. Low carbon network operation: incentivising network companies to reduce their own carbon footprint (and that of contractors), including via losses and leakage. De-carbonising demand: incentivising companies to facilitate reductions in demand for energy (for example via energy efficiency measures), as well as the use of lower carbon energy sources in other sector (e.g. heat and transport).

A leading expert on carbon footprinting will deliver the keynote speech on green energy to senior figures in Cumbria’s nuclear sector tonight. Mike Berners-Lee will give an overview of the energy challenge facing the world the role nuclear can play in the UK’s attempts to tackle climate change, when he speaks at the second of four warm-up events for September’s Cumbria Nuclear Conference. Mr Berners-Lee, who lives in Kendal and runs his business Small World Consulting from Lancaster University’s Environmental Centre, will address around 100 invited delegates who will gather at Rheged near Penrith. The brother of world wide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, he has published two books, ‘How Bad are Bananas – The Carbon Footprint of Everything’ and ‘The Burning Question?’, written with Duncan Clark. The event also includes talks from Simon Sjenitzer, director of energy and climate change at conference sponsors WYG, and Carlisle MP John Stevenson, who will be hosting the main conference on September 21 at Carlisle Racecourse.

The UK’s Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has welcomed confirmation of the government’s intention to seek associate status to Euratom R&D programmes. NIA chief executive Tom Greatrex stressed however that this is just one part of the current Euratom framework, and progress in replicating other vital areas is still needed before the UK leaves the treaty, as part of its exit from the European Union, in March 2019.

The target of achieving global nuclear generating capacity of 438 GWe by 2020 under the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) Sustainable Development Scenario appears to be on track, the agency said today. However, it said the prospects of meeting the target of 490 GWe by 2025 remains uncertain.

Dave Elliott: Germany is continuing with its nuclear phase out, while pushing renewables strongly, with well over 100GW of wind and solar so far. Renewables overall, including hydro and biomass, should soon be supplying nearly 40% of its electricity. That has been helped by the fall in their costs and by continued support from consumer self-generation, mainly using PV, and locally owned projects, including wind. For example, the result of the first competitive German onshore wind tender in 2016 had prices ranging between 52 and 58 Euro/MWh for 807MW. That’s down from €80/MWh under the old FiT support system. 65 of the 70 successful projects were community-driven or co-operative schemes. Despite setbacks, it does not seem to be the case, as some insist, that Germany is replacing nuclear with coal, so that emissions are rising. The 2017 World Nuclear Industry Status report notes that, since 2010, the last year prior to the post-3/11 shutdown of the eight oldest nuclear plants, and 2016 ‘the increase of renewable electricity generation (+84.4 TWh) and the noticeable reduction in domestic consumption (-20.6 TWh) were more than sufficient to compensate the planned reduction of nuclear generation (-56 TWh), enabling also a slight reduction in power generation from fossil fuels (-13 TWh) and a threefold increase in net exports’: Though it is the case that Germany emission have been growing slightly, that’s mainly due to increases from transport.

Berlin agrees to compensate power firms for nuclear phase out. The German government approved a draft law on Wednesday that paves the way for energy giants RWE and Vattenfall to receive hundreds of millions of euros in compensation for the country’s decision to phase out nuclear power. The exact sum has yet to be determined but the environment ministry said the amount was unlikely to surpass a billion euros. The draft law will bring Germany into compliance with a 2016 court ruling that found energy suppliers had a right to financial compensation over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s U-turn on nuclear energy.

Despite the nuclear reduction target, EDF still hopes for new EPRs. This is the “wish list” of EDF in the context of the public debate accompanying the preparation of the next EPP, the famous multi-year energy program which must outline France’s main guidelines for the production of carbon-free electricity. ‘here to 2028, and draw the trajectory of the energy transition until 2035 and beyond. The electrician has submitted Monday to the National Commission of Public Debate (CNDP) its “actor’s book” to push its preferred scenario: “a complementarity between renewable and nuclear” in which the atom would remain in the decades to come “a a major asset for the country ” alongside hydropower, solar and wind energy.

Of the three main parties vying for office in Ontario’s spring election, only the NDP has spoken out against building a $2.4-billion nuclear waste bunker near Lake Huron. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the idea of burying radioactive waste so close to a major fresh-water source worries her and, should she be elected on June 7, would look to intervene against the project.

Clients have included Greenpeace, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, WWF Scotland and the UK Government’s Committee on Radioactive Waste Management.

Daily News Service

Sign up for our daily energy and environment news service and get the daily news roundup emailed to you every morning. It’s free to sign up, but if you find the service useful and can afford it, please consider making a donation to help us continue the service.